Published: April
8, 2015Burnham-On-Sea
reaches final of National Coach Tourism Awards

Burnham-On-Sea
has this week been announced as a finalist in The National Coach
Tourism Awards after being named among the UK's top six coach
tourism towns and cities.

For
the third year running Burnham-On-Sea has been named in the top
Coach Friendliest Destinations along with Liverpool, Bournemouth,
Gloucester, Devizes and Rudesheim in Germany.

Burnham
has seen a massive increase in coaches visiting the town since
the start of Project Coach, a Town Council-funded initiative aimed
at promoting coach tourism.

Figures
out in January showed visits had risen from 173 coaches in 2012
to 1,012 in 2014.

The
two organisers behind Project Coach, Les Barber and Ian Jefferies,
pictured, have been named in the National Coach Tourism
Awards as finalists in the category of 'Coach Tourism Professionals
of the Year' for their work in Burnham. They are named alongside
seven other attraction, destination and coach industry personnel
who have excelled in promoting the coach industry.

The
winners will be announced at a ceremony on May 14th at West Midlands
Safari Park where over 400 of the country's key personnel from
the coach tourism industry will be in attendance.

Burnham's
Business and Tourism Manager Ian Jefferies told Burnham-On-Sea.com:
"We are delighted that Burnham-On-Sea has reached the finals
for the third year running and is a reflection of what can be
achieved when local authorities, community groups and businesses
pull together. This recognition is due to the many people and
groups who have assisted in welcoming coaches to our little town.
The effect this project has had on our local economy has not just
been what we see with coaches coming directly into us, but also
with many passengers stating during their short stops that they
have loved what they have seen in their short time and will return
for a proper stay over."

Burnham's
Coach Destination Manager Les Barber added: "It's fantastic
for the town that the implementations we have made over the last
3 years have been recognised. We are up against some significantly
bigger towns and cities but do hope we can go one stage further
this year and bring home the trophy. Project Coach is continuing
on a voluntary basis but we are hoping to secure some funding
in the near future to push this project on to the next level and
entice even more coach loads of passengers to enjoy our town's
offerings."

The
National Coach Tourism Awards recognise excellence and innovation
among coach tour operators, destinations, visitor attractions,
and tourism industry suppliers and are the only national awards
scheme to specifically focus on the coach tourism industry.